Regulatory Assets and Liabilities, Additional Disclosures (Details) (USD $)			36 Months Ended						12 Months Ended		1 Months Ended			12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended						12 Months Ended		1 Months Ended			12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended															12 Months Ended		1 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	May 07, 2013 Cleco Power [Member]	Apr. 30, 2015 Evangeline Power Purchase Agreement [Member] Evangeline [Member] Cleco Power [Member] MW	Mar. 31, 2012 Evangeline Power Purchase Agreement [Member] Evangeline [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Production O&M Expenses [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Production O&M Expenses [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Sep. 21, 2009 Production O&M Expenses [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Sep. 21, 2009 Production O&M Expenses [Member] Maximum [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Deferred training costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Deferred training costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2007 Deferred mining costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Deferred mining costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Deferred mining costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Deferred rate case costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Deferred rate case costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2009 Amended lignite mining agreement contingency [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Amended lignite mining agreement contingency [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Amended lignite mining agreement contingency [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Apr. 30, 2009 Amended lignite mining agreement contingency [Member] Cleco Power [Member] area T	Dec. 31, 2013 AMI Deferred Revenue Requirement [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 AMI Deferred Revenue Requirement [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 AMI Deferred Revenue Requirement [Member] Maximum [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Feb. 28, 2011 AMI Deferred Revenue Requirement [Member] Maximum [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Deferred surcredits, net [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Deferred surcredits, net [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Deferred surcredits, net [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Deferred fuel and purchased power [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Deferred fuel and purchased power [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Biomass costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Biomass costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Deferred tree trimming costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Jan. 29, 2013 Deferred tree trimming costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Deferred tree trimming costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Jan. 31, 2008 Deferred tree trimming costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Deferred Financing costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Deferred Financing costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Deferred Financing costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Asset Retirement Obligation Costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Asset Retirement Obligation Costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Asset Retirement Obligation Costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member] Removal of asbestos [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Asset Retirement Obligation Costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member] Removal of asbestos [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Asset Retirement Obligation Costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member] Solid waste facility closure costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Asset Retirement Obligation Costs [Member] Cleco Power [Member] Solid waste facility closure costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Acadia Unit 1 Transaction [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 FTRs [Member] Deferred fuel and purchased power [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Feb. 28, 2006 Deferred construction carrying costs - liability [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Deferred construction carrying costs - liability [Member] Cleco Power [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Deferred construction carrying costs - liability [Member] Cleco Power [Member]
Schedule of Regulatory Assets and Liabilities, Net [Line Items]
Regulatory Assets					$ 8,459,000	$ 0	$ 25,600,000	$ 25,600,000	$ 7,175,000	$ 7,330,000		$ 14,019,000	$ 16,569,000	$ 45,000	$ 581,000		$ 3,781,000	$ 3,781,000		$ 4,682,000	$ 1,483,000		$ 20,000,000		$ 16,738,000	$ 6,211,000		$ 7,833,000	$ 114,000	$ 145,000	$ 4,840,000		$ 5,656,000		$ 9,772,000		$ 7,282,000	$ 936,000	$ 867,000
Regulatory liabilities																																															0	8,255,000
Deferred Mining Costs [Abstract]
Regulatory Noncurrent Asset, Amortization Period									P50Y		P11Y6M			P4Y								P15Y							P5Y															P30Y
Minimum percentage savings to customers (in hundredths)											2.00%
Gain (Loss) on the settlement of Forward Starting Interest Rate Derivative		(3,300,000)
Deferred Gain (Loss) as a Regulatory Asset of Forward Starting Interest Rate Derivative																																				(2,900,000)
Asset Retirement Obligations, Noncurrent																																								300,000	300,000	600,000	600,000
Deferred Tree Trimming Costs [Abstract]
Regulatory asset - cap																																		12,000,000
Grossed-up rate of return (in hundredths)																																		12.40%
Public Utilities, Maximum Amount of Costs Requested for Deferral																																8,000,000
Deferred Storm Surcredits, Net [Abstract]
Withdrawal from restricted storm reserve																								10,000,000
Deferred Construction Carrying Costs [Abstract]
Percentage of jurisdictional portion of construction carrying costs to be collected from customers (in hundredths)																																														75.00%
Amount of construction carrying costs returned to customers																																															166,000,000
Amended Lignite Mining Agreement Contingency [Abstract]
Ownership interest (in hundredths)																			50.00%
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Gross																25,700,000
Approximate lignite reserves (in tons)																			73,000,000
Number of mining areas																			2
Percentage of loans and lease payments guaranteed by Cleco Power (in hundredths)																50.00%
Liability recognized for guarantee of loan and lease payments	4,906,000																3,800,000
FACE AMOUNT	13,225,000																98,100,000
Long-term Power Purchase Agreement, Term of Contract				3 years
Capacity and energy			730
Deferred Fuel and Purchased Power Costs [Abstract]
Percentage of total fuel cost was regulated by the LPSC (in hundredths)																											88.00%
Change in under-recovered fuel costs																											(11,700,000)
Derivative, Unrealized Gain (Loss) On Derivative																																													(8,600,000)
Change In Deferred Fuel & Purchased Power																											$ (3,100,000)